(Update – LePage lifted the civil emergency via press statement at 3:04 p.m.) Gov. Paul LePage was the only governor to call a civil emergency as a response to the shutdown of federal government. The shutdown is over. So why is Maine still under a civil emergency? Unclear. Adrienne Bennett, the governor’s spokeswoman, said Thursday […]

It’s going to be a long 2014 gubernatorial campaign.  Exhibit A: The Cobscook Bay barricade.  So you may have read that the feds at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently installed wooden sawhorses at the Cobscook Bay State Park to discourage about two dozen fishermen from accessing a boat ramp. The park is located within […]

(Update: Peter Steele, LePage’s spokesman, emailed the following statement at 1:01 p.m. —  “The Governor was speaking informally about the revenue surplus at the end of Fiscal Year 2013, which was about $47 million. Adding that revenue to lapsing balances and accounting adjustments, the total surplus was $58 million. Under state law, surplus revenue is […]

The Democratic Governors Association has released a new web ad. It’s not the “American Comeback.” The latter is a campaign run by the Republican Governors Association, which has begun to assert that Republican governors, including Gov. Paul LePage, are the anti-Congress, the doers. Conversely, the DGA spot claims that LePage and some of his counterparts are just […]

Governors are becoming increasingly concerned with the accumulating effects of the federal government shutdown. That includes Gov. Paul LePage, who this week became the first governor to respond to the shutdown by calling a civil emergency, an action that allows him to suspend a wide range of laws and regulations.  On Friday, LePage and 24 […]

Here’s a video of Gov. Paul LePage explaining his civil emergency declaration and the audio reaction by Democratic leaders House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, and Sen. Anne Haskell, D-Portland.   

Click here to listen to Monday’s quickie interview with Ken and Mike on WGAN. It’s a short one this week, but we touch on a couple of stories, including Newport Republican Rep. Kenneth Fredette’s bill to repeal the newly enacted sales tax hike a year ahead of schedule. We also chat briefly about the ongoing […]

Augusta state Sen. Roger Katz, the assistant Republican leader, said the federal government’s decision to terminate approximately $20 million in funding for the Riverview Physchiatric Center was “premature, punitive and puts the care of some of our most vulnerable citizens at risk.” In a prepared statement, Katz also criticized legislative Democrats for using the issue […]

Just about every political organization or candidate is attempting to get traction out of the partial shutdown of the federal government. Whether it’s the Maine Democratic Party ripping U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, for vocally opposing the shutdown while voting against a measure designed to prevent it, or the Maine Republican Party attempting to cast […]

Those who followed the last legislative session know that Maine lawmakers were able to avoid a shutdown of state government by negotiating a compromise on the state’s two-year budget.  There were some Republicans who didn’t agree with the budget, including Gov. Paul LePage. However, many joined the Democratic majority to override the governor’s veto. Rep. […]